Pokémon Go Thanksgiving Event: Players Earn Double XP and Stardust

Pokémon Go was a huge smash over the summer, landing on millions of smartphones. The game’s popularity has wavered since its initial boom, but a new Thanksgiving event for the game may draw players back in as they look for a way to walk off the extra serving of stuffing.

The augmented reality game that places Pokémon in real-world locations will center the event around Thanksgiving, though it will be active starting Nov. 23 and will run through Nov. 30.

Though it’s pegged to the American holiday, the event won’t be a United States exclusive; players around the world will be able to get in on the action. To keep it more generic, the Pokémon Go team are labeling the event, “A Celebration to Say Thank You.”

During the event, trainers will score double the amount of XP—experience points used for leveling up—and Stardust —used for powering up Pokémon—received from playing the game.

Game developer Niantic has hosted other previous holiday events in game, including a Halloween-centric one that provided additional in-game candy to players for evolving their Pokémon.

While the week-long Thanksgiving event will be sure to thrill the hardcore players who have stuck with Pokémon Go, Niantic surely hopes it will also draw back some players who gave up the game after its initial rush of popularity. The mobile game once peaked with nearly 45 million daily active users according to data from Apptopia, but lost over 15 million of those players in the course of just one month.

Previous attempts to rekindle the flame haven’t managed to bring Pokémon Go back to its heyday, but the Thanksgiving Day event has an added element of motivation for users: it’s a great way to excuse yourself from your family when conversation at the table inevitably turns political.

The Pokémon Go team noted the upcoming event with the following announcement:

Trainers,

It has been an incredible experience since we launched Pokémon GO a few short months ago in July. We are passionate about creating experiences that encourage exploration and promote exercise. We are humbled that hundreds of millions of you around the world have joined us on this journey. So we would like to say thank you - and what better way to say thank you than to celebrate our community.

So, starting November 23rd at 00:00 UTC and going through November 30th 00:00 UTC, we will double the amount of XP and Stardust you receive when completing in-game actions.